Irish vet Noel Fitzpatrick, who hosts Supervet on Channel 4, said a near-death experience earlier this year made him want to question "what life is all about".
The 50-year-old Laois man, who broke his neck after he suffered a horrific fall down a flight of stairs, said he came "a few millimetres" away from losing his life.
Speaking to Dáithí Ó Sé and Sinead Kennedy on Today on RTÉ One from his veterinary clinic in Eashing, Surrey, Fitzpatrick opened up about the striking title of his new book, How Animals Saved My Life.
"I started the book before lockdown and then I got locked down myself because I fell down the stairs and broke my neck.
"When you come within a few millimetres of losing your life you think to yourself - 'alright, what's life all about?'"
Fitzpatrick said he wanted to write the book as a way to deal with his own trauma and said animals can be "emotional stents" for many people.
"I decided to write a book about how animals can teach us truth and trust and empathy and compassionateness, and all of those values that I think are important in the world.
"That's where the book came from, it came from a place where I was trying to deal with my own trauma - physically, and indeed mentally, from throughout the years and to show how animals can help save our lives if we let them.
"I always think of animals as a heart stent... cats and dogs are emotional stents that allow us to be ourselves and access that part of ourselves that is really important and sometimes we can't share with a human."
Take a trip down memory lane and watch as Noel Fitzpatrick rescued a distressed swan on a rain-washed, traffic-choked Dublin street on a dreary Tuesday afternoon in 2018.
You can catch the full interview on the RTÉ Player.
